Life is all about the little moments and the little things, I share mine here in my Castle of Dreams

ITALY

I believe images are powerful and inspiring, if we stop limiting our perceptions to the obvious, a world of possibilities and wonder lays ahead of us. Happy dreaming or happy traveling of the mind and a great weekend everyone. Thank you for stopping by!

Emmanuelle Beart. So beautiful! That would make an amazing wedding dress, wouldn’t it?Gorgeous!Jewel tones are exquisite..Baccarat… a million crystals of inspiration!Hotel de CrillonHotel Crillon, Paris.Hotel de CrillonColin Cowie. Beyond talented!.. He is definetly one of the best!Cate Blanchett in Giorgio Armani, magnificent!All the right combinations..Rosie HuntingtonColin Cowie, The Bridal CircleSummer dream...Everything pretty is the rule!.Hotel de Crillon.Spectacular shoes!Have you ever seen something more adorable?Vintage feel with old framesCamilla Belle, Jezebel magazineParis in bloom. Cherry blossoms!Like Ice candy!When words are absolutely unnecessary and redundant..Infinite possibilitiesLebanese designer Elie Saab presents his Spring/Summer 2011 Haute Couture collection at theTheatre de Chaillot during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 26 January 2011. Photo by Nicolas Gouhier/ABACAPRESS.COMEugenia Silva for Armani, found at ru_glamour.livejournal.comCimbrone Gardens, Ravello, Italy…Villa CimbroneGold and Black, perfect.Black and GoldJust what I needed!Carolina Herrera. Such a class act, such a talent..Pink Powder…Elie Saab, timeless..Beautiful brideColin Cowie weddingsValentina Zelyaeva, Ralph Lauren.Ralph … always and forever…La vie en Rose ..Crystal inspiration from Baccarat, it’s a symphony for the senses!Colin CowieLittle Flower girlColin Cowie, he is amazingBy Studio B Floral, Burnsville. Founded in mnbride.comAlberta Ferretti, Pre Fall 2015. What is this doing here? I love the anticipations for things to come… in every single way!How beautiful is that?!…Art…George V Hotel, Paris.Oscar de la Renta..Ralph…Ralph Lauren. Now you can pick your color palette and get inspired with the elements and colors of one single dress!

Once again, enjoy your weekend and make it count! Intensity can be experienced in many unexpected ways!

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My father loved poetry, he used to recite poems all the time as he walked around the house. “To Christ crucified” was one of my favorites, it always managed to move me to unspoken tears … In spite of being too young to comprehend how deep those words were, I always had a profound feeling of respect and sadness at the same time every time I heard them. The tone of his voice, the intensity and the feeling he had behind those words were powerful… My father was an agnostic or so he said… I think he wanted to be and tried hard to make others believe he was. There were some moments like those ones when he recited this poem that lead me to believe later on that he was just trying, as strange as it might sound, to protect himself of hope. Many of us try hard to stop believing so we can’t be hurt anymore. We try to stop believing in real love and decency, in human integrity and character, we try to stop believing in fairness and possibilities, even in God. We feel all grown up and too smart to believe…even though there is something inside of us that needs desperately to do so and never, ever stops searching, even in all the wrong places, for that light that seems to start inside of us and needs to connect to it’s source, a much bigger and powerful light, in order to continue to exist. It is then, when we cease to believe, that we become broken, empty lanterns without a fire, without a purpose… It saddens me to accept that I, as well, had walked away from the light inadvertently, not completely, not that far, still far enough to experience such darkness… I love little Albert Einstein’s explanation to his teacher about darkness not existing and been impossible to be proven scientifically, he said it is only the absence of light. Researching the story a while ago I found out it was an urban legend… I was heart broken and refused to believe it wasn’t real so I decided right there and then to hold on to it, for as long as I could… too much beauty and truth in it to let go.

My father lost his mother when he was a little boy, I can only imagine how hard it must have been… I think that had a big influence on him trying to live his life without faith or hope. He never said it but it makes sense to me now… it’s made sense to me for a while actually, specially since he died in September of 2011. It’s helped me greatly to believe that he actually, deep, deep down, in a dark, quiet corner of his heart, believed… the way he recited this poem with such sorrow and passion… There were a few things and moments during his life where we were able to see signs of his lost faith since he went to Catholic school. Those moments had given me hope that he has finally reunited with his Mother and that I will see him again, joyful and in peace, without pain, the way it was intended to be… and he will hold me and comb my hair and tell me how pretty and smart I am again…

Father and daughter

Here is the translated poem and the original.

Sonnet to Jesus Crucified

I am not moved, my God, to love You
by the heaven that You have promised me
and I am not moved either by hell so feared
as the reason to stop offending You.

You move me, my Lord, it moves me to see You
nailed to a cross and your flesh destroyed,
what moves me is to see your body so injured,
what moves me is your suffering and your death.

What moves me, finally, is your love, and in such way,
that even if there was no heaven, I would love You,
and even if there was no hell, I would fear You.

You don’t have to give me for me to love You,
so even if what I hope for I did not hope,
the same that I love You, I would love You.

This week, as we remember Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, I better realize what happens when we extinguish the light. We are surrounded by what we perceived as darkness, we are surrounded by the absence of THE LIGHT.

It is finished…The beginning… Vierge Aux Anges, William Adolphe Bouguereau.The Joy..The Light, William Adolphe Bouguereau’s The Virgin of the LiliesThe darkness, William Adolphe Bouguereau’s PietàThe hope, Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child. Church of our Lady, Bruges, Belgium.The sorrow, Michelangelo’s Pietà. St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City.L’Innocence, William Auguste Bouguereau…. The world making sense !Betrayal: To deliver or expose to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty. The taking of Christ by Caravaggio, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.Madonna della Seggiola, detail. I am totally captivated with this painting, Mary’s face and expression are beyond beautiful, the look in her eyes mesmerize me !…. I’m at a loss for wordsRaffaello Sanzio, Madonna della Seggiola, Florence, ItalyThe world gone mad…The beauty of colors. The Star of Bethlehem by Edward Burne-Jones. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, England.The PasionOf love and familyThe teachings and examplesAbout hypocrisy and cowardly…. Ecce Homo by Antonio CiseriA child … a Teacher, Jesus in the TempleEntry of Christ into Jerusalem. Van Dyck. Hosanna!The last Supper. Leonardo da Vinci. Santa Maria delle Grazie, MilanMadness… The Elevation of The Cross, Triptych by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens. Cathedral of our Lady, Antwerp, BelgiumPeter Paul Rubens, The Elevation of the Cross, I find confusing that both versions are different, no idea which one is the original…The BeginningThe endThe world as it is supposed to be. Christ in the House of his Parents by John Everett Millais, Tate Britain, LondonFisher of menJesus with fishermen by Jean van Orley, in Sint Salvador, Brugge, Belgium.The Light, the Hope, Leonardo da VinciThe road less traveled…We all carry our crossAnd know that I am with you always, yes, to the end of timeKing of kings, Lord of lordsChrist crucified by Diego Velázquez. Museo del Prado, Spain

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Marsala is the color of the year… Well, even though I like this shade very much, to me it gets too close to Radiant Orchid, Pantone’s 2014 seleccion. Too close but not enough to be able to reuse the accessories of last year with the new shades or tints of the new one. To me last years Radiant Orchid was more in the cooler side, with blue undertones, this years Marsala is more in the warmer side, with earthy undertones like the wine from which it takes it’s name that comes from the surroundings of the Sicilian city of Marsala in Italy . (By the way, I don’t think there is anything in the colder side in Italy! Everything seems to be warm and intense!)

I love this, I’ve been a fan of lacquered walls and rich tones forever and that light fixture is awesomePretty Woman memories

I don’t follow fashion or trends at all, I enjoy them but they don’t dictate anything in my world, unless I happen to fall in love with one of them. What I don’t understand is that they pick the colors too close to each other, in the same intensity…. I would rather have them pick something complementary or a tint or shade of the color, so regular people who follow these things can have a better opportunity to play with what they already have just adding the “new” color, creating richer environments with more layers and personality and cooler wardrobes . Well, I’m not color expert or anything close to that but for what is worth, this is my fifty cents in this matter 😉

Some hues are gorgeous like this Ives Saint Lauren clutchCarnivalThe colors of 2015I’m a little afraid…. It’s still Marsala, right?

I’ve had many people asking me along the years why a particular color, even white, didn’t work with what they had at home or in their closet, when it seemed perfect at the store… Undertones! I won’t get into that, there are too many blogs and too many experts that already do that brilliantly, just trying to give one more reason why the experts at Pantone should pick something complementary or analogous, with the same or compatible undertones, that will work together and in that way make life simpler for people that don’t know much about the intricacies of color but they do know something is not working and they don’t know why! Probably I’m wrong but it’s just my humble opinion… Still, I think they should do that at least two years in a row…

These are gorgeous! They would make any woman feel like a queen.Marsala, how much I love thee! Seriously, I absolutely adore these colours here!

The title in this post is Fifty shades of … because I wrote another one called “The color Purple and it’s fifty shades” talking about last year’s pick. I’d like to put a link here but I have no idea how… it seems to me that I could reuse some of the images I used there… confusing!

How sweet is this?!Soft and intense at the same timeVera WangMarsala shoesMark RothkoMark RothkoLacquered walls!Very richAccentWithout the shadow of a doubt..Burberry loveMarc JacobsJust like drops of wine in the snow…Lovelies !You prepare a table before me…Silence is golden and this is perfect!More Marsala with goldStarting with wine, ending in rose powder..O.P.The new paletteA vase full of colourSo many dreams and hopes in a bundle… (Let’s assume the flowers are in some marsala shades and tones 😉 … we just can’t see!)Definitely warm undertonesOlivia … must be so fun to dress like her! Not particularly this one….More like this one!There will be cake!Scheherazade!One thousand and One nights!Rich wines tones,Valentino. I love the booties.There is something special about winter weddings… I thinkAnd there will be more cake !!!!Mark RothkoNothing can compete with nature. It’s perfect!Talking about warmth!Delicioso!Say YES! to this dress!!!A magic carpetPinch me to know I’m not dreaming!Candlelight, the best light after the sun!Very prettyShoes…. No woman is immune to that!There is a time for everything, Marc JacobsElegance, Lucy in the sky, with diamonds…

Wheels or wings? I pick wings..Nature, makes everything feel obtainable!Burberry, I love you!Another one of my favorites! Hunter boots love.Loving this dress so much, I would only change the shoesMore about Marsala, it should come with wine samples!Gorgeous Peonies!WeddingsWhat a great combination, the softness of the skirt with the structured leather jacket..Perfect!Shoe Confidential… the power they hold…Olivia Palermo, in love with her closet …Wine Dreams…Chains of life…Burberry againSofas are the best, so inviting..Très chicWith green?Accents make a big difference! she is so beautiful..I find swimsuits and two pieces sexier and more attractive than tiny bikinis

Subtle and classyCinderella shoesSo fun!Marsala is the new blackSweet Carolyne (Roehm)Like a romance novelMarsala in a glanceWarm palette in velvet and goldFlower guide

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Christmas is the most beautiful holiday of the year and even though we have managed to commercialize it to a point of no return it stills holds a profound meaning to me and to millions of people around the world … I believe all Christmases are happening at the same time, just like in Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” We are all connected, we are all the same…. I wanted to share with you the Christmas images I’ve been having lately in my mind and heart. I hope that you enjoy them and that they touch your heart as much as they did mine!

CHRISTMAS IN ITALYYEP! WHAT HE SAID!My husband at Piazza San Marco in Venice, a long, long time ago… As I like to say: He was born the first half of last century! Sounds impressive, doesn’t it?! (at the very end, 1949)MORGAN WEISTLING IN A PERFECT INSPIRATION OF A PORTRAIT OF LOVE

VENICE STREETS …YOU CAN’T APPRECIATE SUMMERS WITHOUT WINTERS… YOU CAN’T APPRECIATE WINTERS WITHOUT SUMMERS!MEMORIES OF MY FATHERSIMPLY… IT’S CHRISTMAS!AMAZING GRACE!COLMAR, FRANCE…OH MY, IT’S REALLY YOU SANTA!I KNOW, I KNOW… I’M MISSING MY RED NOSE! I WAS IN A HURRY…DADDY IS HOME! PLEASE HOLD ME!THERE IS NOBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD I’D RATHER BE WITH…OH BOY! I’M BEAUTIFUL…DO YOU WANT A LITTLE GIRL FOR CHRISTMAS?… I COME WITH A TEDDY BEAR…WE HAVE TOO MUCH… YES, WE DO.THE CHRISTMAS SOCK… SHE’D RATHER BE COLD THAN WITHOUT DREAMSMILK AND COOKIES, FOR SANTA AND ME!HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS, YES INDEED!NORMAN ROCKWELL … AMERICAN GENIUS !THE PRETTIEST TREE IN THE WORLD

I HOPE! I BELIEVE!DUTCH MIRACLETHE RABBITS’ CHRISTMASLET’S TELL EVERYBODY THAT YES, WE HAVE ENOUGH TOYS…NEW SHOES!! AUSTRIAN BOY DURING WWIITHE SKINNY BOY WITH THE SKINNY TREE, NO, IT’S NOT ABOUT A SIZE “0”THE BEAUTY AND THE BEASTHarry, are you still there waiting dear? No child should have to wait in christmas! It still hurts when I see you there like that, after so many years…PICASSOCONTEMPLATIONWHEN ALL WAS WELL IN THE WORLDWONDER

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!” ― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol